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Friends and family gather to mourn death of 21-year-old Winchester local Mieke Oort

Oort was killed in the Netherlands last week, where she attended college.

he 21-year-old Winchester native studying in the Netherlands was murdered early Sunday in her apartment in the Dutch city of Leeuwarden. Facebook

By Gwen Egan

1 minute to read

A vigil was held outside the Winchester High School athletic fields Sunday evening to mourn the death of 21-year-old Winchester native Mieke Oort, who was killed in the Netherlands last week, where she attended college.

Oort’s father spoke about her, softly and through tears, to a group of her friends, family, and classmates.

“I was asked to give a photo of her, and I looked and I had 12,000 photos with her face on it,” he said to The Boston Globe after the vigil. “So if you ask what exact experience was my favorite, I don’t have an answer.”

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Oort was stabbed to death March 6 inside of her apartment about an hour and a half north of Amsterdam, officials in the Netherlands said in a statement last week.

Danique Oort, Mieke’s older sister, told WCVB that the suspect in Mieke’s murder had been stalking her and put a GPS tracker on her bike.

“He put a tracker on her bike because in the Netherlands, you bike everywhere,” Danique Oort said.

Mieke Oort graduated from Winchester High School in 2019. She began her studies to pursue a bachelor’s degree in leisure and events management, and was supposed to graduate in 2024, according to her LinkedIn.

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“She had the most beautiful soul,” Danique said in a Facebook message to The Boston Globe.

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